Elected as member of the Khyber P.K. Assembly on reserved seat for women on the Awami National Party (ANP) ticket, Musarrat Shafi is representative of womenfolk from Kohat district for the first time in the provincial legislature.

Known for her boldness in Kohat, Musarrat Shafi, was born at Jangalkhel in Kohat district to Durrani family. She has a political background, as her father Shafi Durrani is nazim of Union Council-IV Jangalkhel.

She graduated from the University of Peshawar as a private candidate in 1990 and received a law degree from the Khyber Law College, Peshawar. She got master’s degree in political science in 1997. She is the first woman lawyer who started practicing law in Kohat district courts.

Musarrat has served as general secretary of Kohat Bar Association (KBA) while she was also elected to the district council twice — in 2001 and 2005. Having active participation in social welfare activities, she is the first woman to have become the vice-president of her party’s district chapter.

Besides pursuing the agenda of her party, she desires to fight for rights of women and poor people of Khyber P.K. She says she would encourage educated women to play an active role in the national development. She says they would strive to bring proper legislation to discourage violence against women and end child labour.

Moreover, she says, she would try hard to help her party fight terrorism, eliminate poverty and unemployment and improve the standard of education and health services.